Veggie Burger-Quinoa and Roasted Red Pepper

I discovered a great new recipe blog called How Sweet It Is.  Beautiful photographs and many new recipes to try out. I found this one for  Quinoa, Roasted Red Pepper, and White Bean Burger. I like to have some vegetarian recipes (other than pasta) up my sleeve for our meatless friends and family.  Plus it's nice to do something different every so often.

Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed ( I did about a cup of dried beans)
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
favorite bun or pita bread

Directions
Mix together bread crumbs and spices in a separate small bowl. 

Mash up cooked beans into a large bowl. Add quinoa, peppers, garlic and mixed till combined. Add in egg and bread crumb mixture. Once combined add in the flour. Shape into balls and then flatten.

Heat up skillet with olive oil and place patties in carefully. Cook on each side till crispy (about 5 minutes).

Serve with your favorite condiment -ketchup, mayo, aioli (something I have to try some time). 

Don't forget the bacon!

Whole Wheat Brownies

I'm back. I can't believe its been since July (of last year) that I posted. Last August I started wholesaling my breads at this lovely country store in Hardwick, MA call Clover Hill. Chris transformed part of our basement into an incredible 230 square foot kitchen with a commercial oven too! I cannot tell you how much I love that oven. The convection just bakes everything so perfectly, even with 30 loaves in the oven at once. So yes I have been busy. I now wholesale to three places (Clover Hill Country Store, Rutland Marketplace, and Princeton Mountainside Cafe). I will be back at the West Brookfield Farmers Market this summer and I think with all that baking I will set.

So this post is especially for my friend Jill and the others who I promised this recipe to for a while.

I wanted to incorporate more whole grains into my baking so I picked up King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking. I seriously sat down and read the whole thing (600 pages) and dog-eared every page I just had to try. So far I've done the scones, whole wheat brownies, and New York crumb cake.

Double Fudge Brownies

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups (15 oz) packed brown sugar(light or dark)
3/4 cup (2 1/4oz) Dutch-process cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp espresso powder (optional) - I haven't tried that yet
1/2 tsp orange extract (optional)- I absolutely love this stuff
1 tbsp Vanilla extract (be real- don't use imitation. Have I done a post on making it yet?)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) whole wheat flour
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips ( i've used less @ 8oz and they were still good)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 inch pan

Melt the butter in a pan on your stove over low heat, add your sugar and stir to combine. Reheat the mixture till bubbly (this gives you a shiny crust on your brownies).

Stir in the cocoa, baking powder, salt, espresso powder or orange extract, and vanilla.
Let mixture cool till you can test it with your finger.

Whisk in your eggs one at a time. Then add in your flour and chocolate chips. Stir till smooth.

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.

If you can wait let the brownies sit overnight before serving. This gives the bran a chance to soften and making them even better.

No one will believe you only used whole wheat flour. I will never go back to my original brownie recipe again. This is my absolute favorite.